How Do I Take Action Where I Am?

A Workshop Series for Grounding Ourselves in the Fight Ahead

In the past couple of weeks, I have received emails, direct messages, and phone calls from friends, family and strangers asking the same question: “How do I take action where I am?” Since I was young, I’ve been engaged in activism, so I understand why some people think I have relevant insights to offer. The question prompted me to adapt a list of actions that are not voting or protesting by Frontline Medics to share with those who were reaching out. Some people have told me the list was helpful, and others asked: “But how do I start?” It’s hard to know what people are actually asking when, after being provided with a list of ideas, still cannot act. I think that there are usually other issues that are preventing action and those need to be thought through and interrogated. No one can do that for others. We must do it for ourselves sometimes alongside others. I decided that it could be useful to create a container for people who want to act but aren’t sure yet how to start for whatever reasons.

I reached out to some friends who have spent a lifetime taking action and asked them if they would offer a short webinar answering the question: “How do I take action where I am?” Each person generously said YES. So, I organized a mini-series of workshops titled “How Do I Take Action Where I Am? A Workshop Series for Grounding Ourselves in the Fight Ahead.”

These five 90-minute sessions happening in December & January are intended to provide concrete ideas and steps that anyone can take. Each session is facilitated by long-time activists and organizers.

The sessions will be offered as Zoom webinars, but we will not record them. A couple of days before each session, we will email a Zoom link to all registrants. Importantly, these workshops are appropriate for people who are new to activism and organizing. They will not be useful if you are a long-time activist and organizer because you’re already taking action.

For the workshops, we will offer ASL interpretation and enable closed captions. We will have live captions for the January 8th workshop. A tech and access support person will be present throughout the event to attend to any emergent participant needs regarding Zoom and access.

Each workshop is a standalone session, but it’s a good idea to register for Mapping Your Social Change Ecosystem as an introduction so that you can assess your skills and interests in activism and organizing.

Please DO NOT register if you know you cannot attend. This is important. Space is limited. So please don’t register as a placeholder.

These sessions are being offered at no cost to participants BUT this does not mean they are free. There are costs associated with putting together such a program (labor, tech, interpretation costs etc...). If you can make a donation, please do. Funds will cover the costs of ASL and CART. We will donate any surplus funds to REBUILD.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you make a donation, that counts as one ticket so you do not also have to register for a free ticket. It's either a free ticket OR a donation one.

Here is the list of workshops. You must register for each of them separately.

December 3 from 6:30 to 8 pm ET — Mapping Your Social Change Ecosystem facilitated by Deepa Iyer + Adaku Utah [SOLD OUT]

December 4 from 6:30 to 8 pm ET - We're All We've Got: Mutual Aid for Survival and Resistance - facilitated by Dean Spade [SOLD OUT]

December 10 from 6:30 to 8 pm ET - Creating Change with our Kids facilitated by Zara Raven

December 17 from 6:30 to 8 pm ET - Move the Needle: Activism for Artists, Crafters, Creatives, and Makers facilitated by Shannon Downey [RESCHEDULED]

January 8, 2025 from 6:30 to 8 pm ET - I'm Disabled, How the Hell Do I Survive/ Resist This? To Exist Is to Resist facilitated by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna Samarasinha

Art by Shannon Downey

ALSO RUN FOR OR SEEK APPOINTMENT TO YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY BOARD!!!

Projects For Your Year-End Donations

I am making year-end contributions to each of these. Please join me.

REBUILD - Funds are urgently needed to keep this program going in 2025. We need to raise $100,000 by December 31. I have committed to match up to $10,000 in contributions. Additionally, donations of $50 and more are eligible to enter this raffle by November 30. 

Prison Library Support Network - PLSN is pooling $15,000 to keep its reference-by-mail project alive. Since 2021, they’ve answered 3,000+ research questions from people in jails and prisons—entirely as volunteers. If you donate $1 by 12/31, it will be matched by $5 up to $15,000—that's potentially over $90,000 toward helping people in prisons access information they need on their own terms.

My comrade, imprisoned intellectual and organizer Stevie Wilson, is raising funds for an inside study group. Please consider supporting them here. 

The Sameer Project - This is a mutual aid project for Gaza led by Palestinians.

BX Rebirth - Please make a note that you are donating to the MK Birth Liberation Fund if you donate.

Palmetto State Abortion Fund - I am a monthly contributor and they are doing essential and needed work. Your donations get put to immediate use to support access to abortion.